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It’s important to do protein treatments on natural hair because we lose protein from daily maintenance and natural wear and tear from the elements of the environment.

Protein treatments temporarily fill in the gaps in the cuticles that are lost, strengthening the strand. Your hair is more prone to breakage when it’s weak and damaged.

Since starting my HHJ I’ve been doing protein treatments, I used to do a simple mayo, egg and olive oil treatment once a month. One day, last year I was out of mayo and was on a natural hair site looking for any D.I.Y protein treatments I could do and I came across a simple recipe and it didn’t call for any mayo which was perfect because I didn’t have any. I ended up falling in love with this protein treatment and it has replace my mayo and egg treatment. The first time I tried the recipe my hair was a little hard and dry but I tried it again and made a few adjustments and it has done my hair wonders each time I use it. And the best thing about this protein treatment is you can make it using things you already have in your kitchen and it’s inexpensive.

You’re to dampen your hair before applying the mixture to your hair. You can apply the mixture to your hair with your bare hands, while wearing plastic gloves or with a perm/color applicator brush like I do. It can get a little messy so wear a t-shirt you don’t care about and have a towel on hand. After applying the mixture cover your hair with a plastic cap and sit for 20-30 mins. Rinse with cold/cool water (you don’t want to cook the egg and have to pick egg bits from your hair) then proceed with your regular wash/co wash whichever you do. Always follow any protein treatment with a good deep conditioning to prevent dry and brittle hair.

Protein is just as important as moisture to your natural hair, it’s critical that you maintain that balance. Too much moisture will lead to mushy, weak. water logged hair and too much protein can cause dry and brittle hair which leads to breakage and breakage equaling no length retention.

May 10th was my journey anniversary! I can’t believe that it’s already been two whole years since I started my HHJ, time really flies when you’re having fun and learning! My journey has become SO much more than about just hair, my journey has opened my eyes to how unhealthy I have been with my hair as well as my body. My hair has come such a long way in these last two years, and it has really flourished over the last 14 months since getting rid of my heat damaged ends.

My hair’s texture has definitely changed, my kinks and coils started out loose and my hair was very thin and unhealthy. Lol *Thinking Back* I remember my pitiful attempts at certain styles, the many fails, it has definitely been trail and error. My hair was so ugly and unhealthy but I knew my mission and I kept striving with my head held high! My confidence and vision was I needed to keep pushing and thats all you need ladies is CONFIDENCE, even though many days I felt like my hair looked like crap I never let it show and that’s what others saw.

This isn’t an update so I’m just going to keep it short, I’m going insert a collage of my hair And it’s progress over the lat two years. I hope it encourages someone struggling on their journey to keep on keeping on! It gets better not necessarily easier but it definitely gets better!

In the Summer months moisturizing and deep conditioning is just as important as it is in the Winter months. Since I’m loving my big hair and other loose styles my hair gets dry often because it’s always out. I haven’t DC’d in about a month and I’ve been blowing my hair out a lot lately, been too busy to use the African Threading method to stretch my hair. I also been going 2 weeks in between washes, yes I’ve been very lazy in my routine lately but it gets like that sometimes! (Shrugs) But after all the negligent, I’m back on my game!

I start with a coconut oil hot treatment, warming up a cup of hot water in the microwave and then sitting my plastic applicator bottle I keep my oils in into the cup of hot water (Heat oil to your liking). Next I section my hair into two halves then break the two halves down to 3-5 twists or plaits after dampening each section with a little water and aloe vera juice and saturating it with the coconut oil. Once my whole head and scalp are saturated with oil, I put on my plastic cap and do something around the house for about 30 mins to an hour.

Next I Cowash (or wash with a sulfate free shampoo) in the shower with my As I Am Coconut CoWash and followed it with my Loreal’s EverSleek Intense Smoothing Conditioner as my rinse out. I like to leave the rinse out in while I do my shower routine then rinse it with luke warm water.

I then applied my deep conditioner, Aubrey Organics HoneySuckle Rose conditioner mixed with some honey, castor oil, and coconut oil. I sit under my heating cap for 30 mins to an hour, then rinse with cool water to lock in the moisture.

After all that I apply my leave-in conditioner and seal with castor oil.

For some people this may seem like TOO MUCH, but for my thick thirsty tresses this kind of conditioning after being worn out for a week or two in this crazy weather we have here in Michigan is much appreciated. If this routine seem too much for you just adjust things to what you feel is necessary for your hair’s need but make sure to keep consistent with your moisturizing and conditioning routines especially if your are just starting in your hair journey, moisturizing and conditioning your hair will help in keeping your hair manageable.

Lush Curl Hair Box is a up and coming natural hair subscription box. Lush Curl Hair Box was created by natural curly girl Sherika Powells who has been natural for 3 years and personally understands the struggle of transitioning to natural hair. There’s so many products to choose from and it can be overwhelming. Sherika wants to make your transition and natural hair journeys smoother by becoming your curls personal shopper. Five to six products are hand selected for you to try each month which will be delivered to your door for an affordable price, less than $25. Lush Curls hair Box will feature products that are both all natural and products that are not so natural, there will occasionally be natural skin care products, jewelry and accessories in the box.

Lush Curls Hair Box will be launching soon, join their VIP mailing list to keep updated for the product launch date as well as to secure your spot with their service, limited spots are available. Good News for my neighbors across the bridge (Canada) Lush Curls Hair Box delivers to ya’ll, That’s What’s Up!

If are interested in becoming an affiliate of Lush Curls Hair Box or want to advertise your products in Lush Curls Hair Box contact Sherika Powells by email Sherika@LushCurlHairBox.com

In the beginning of my journey keeping my hair manageable and pliable was two of my biggest problems. Part of it had to do with some of the products I was using that weren’t really moisturizing my hair as it should but it mostly were my techniques and my being lazy that was contributing to my hair being so matted, tangled and full of knots.

Hard to manage hair can cause you to spend a lot of unnecessary time detangling and styling your hair and can cause you a lot of frustration in your journey. Around month 5 into my journey I started getting a little lazy with my hair I was wearing a puff basically every day, I wasn’t deep conditioning, or using a leave-in conditioner. After wearing a puff for like 2 weeks straight and not thoroughly detangling my hair my hair had formed some serious knots, at this point in my journey I started to make a few changes and as the months passed a started adding a few more changes and later I started to notice a difference in my hair’s manageability.

Here are some tips I want to share with you that helped me get my hair’s manageability under control.

• Detangle- Detangling is a critical part of your regimen whether you like to detangle before a wash or after, you should thoroughly detangle your hair. Detangling helps remove shed hairs, knots, and tangles. Going to long without detangling your hair becomes matted, the shed hairs gets all caught with the tangles and cause knots resulting in hard to comb/detangle hair and breakage.

• Moisturizing- Moisturizing is very important when it comes to your hair’s manageability keeping your hair well conditioned and moisturized will help combat tangles and knots. When your hair is dry and has curled/coiled up on itself it can become tangled, matted and impossible to manipulate, so make sure to keep your hair moisturized to help keep your hair pliable and easy to manage.

• Make sure to focus on moisturizing and sealing your ends, doing so will keep your kinks, coils, and curls from knotting and tangling when they clump together at the ends.

• Wash your hair in sections and in a downward motion opposed to the loose state and rough back and forth (scratching) motion you’re used to which can cause your strands to tangle and knot. Washing your hair in a downward motion, working the cleanser down to your ends also so helps so release shed hairs which can get tangled in your curls/coils or single strands knots that you may have.

• Deep Condition with heat- this has help aid in reducing my tangles. Deep conditioning with heat opens (lefts) the cuticles allowing the moisture to penetrate the scalp and hair shaft resulting in softer, more manageable hair.

• Keep your hair stretched- when you allow your hair to curl/coil up on its self causing your hair to tangle and knot.

• Trim your ends- sometimes you experience knots and tangles because your ends may have single strand knots (SSKs) and when your strands wrap around each other or you’re detangling and removing shed hairs the strands become tangled and knotted along with the knots on the ends of your hair. Trim your ends to get rid of single strand knot and to maintain healthy ends.

• Rinse your conditioners out with cold or cool water- Rinsing your conditioners out with cold or cool water closes and seals the cuticles on the strands, locking in moisture and leaving the hair smooth and less prone to frizz and tangles.

• Try doing an ACV rinse, like the cold/cool water technique, doing an ACV rinse can also help close and smooth the cuticles resulting in smoother hair.

• Be gentle when manipulating your hair, rushing while handle your hair can cause your create tangle and knots. Instead of ripping at your kinks, coils, and curls or yanking at them with a comb when they become tangled and knotted, smooth and rub the tangles and knots out.

• If your hair is dry and you want to manipulate it dampen it with water with or without aloe vera juice to make help more pliable.
*Tip* Aloe vera juice moisturizes and softens the hair.

• The last tip I am going to leave you with is to reduce the amount of heat you’re currently using on your hair. An excessive amount of heat (blow drying, flat ironing etc) can dry your hair our especially your ends; being that they are the oldest parts of your hair you should be taking extra care of them to keep them healthy and tangle free. Constant heat styling will cause you to have to trim more than you probably would prefer. So opt for other options to stretch your hair like flexi rod sets or roller sets (perfect for transitioners).

I hope these tips help some of you natural out there, they have made a world of difference in my regimen and hair’s health.

Going natural and starting a regimen along with trying to find products and tools can be overwhelming. The one thing you should remember is to keep it simple especially in the beginning. It’s so easy to become a product junkie and start buying into every product or tool you see on YouTube and the blogs. Another thing to remember is that what works for someone else may not work for you even if you’re related or have a similar hair type, so always do lots of research by watching and reading reviews on products before you go out and purchase products and tools. You should also keep in mind that you don’t need to spend lots of money on products either a lot of products many naturals use can be found in your kitchen cabinets or in your local drugstores, grocery stores, or health food stores. Anywho, I wanted to share the basic tools I’ve used through out my journey so far and maybe it can help someone looking to start their own regimen.

1. Sulfate free shampoo- Sulfate free shampoos cleanses your hair without all the harsh cleansers that are found in your regular shampoos, which strips your hair of everything even it’s natural oils causing your hair to feel dry and sometimes become matted.

2. Conditioners-Conditioners have so many purposes in a natural’s regimen they can be used for deep conditioning, rinse out conditioning treatments after washes, co-washes, leave-ins and some can even be used a stylers. (Make sure to read the labels or instructions to determine whether a conditioner should be used as a leave-in, rinse out, or deep conditioner but all three should have a place in your regimen)

3. Detangling tools- Detangle tools can vary from your fingers, to wide tooth combs, paddle brushes, The Tangle Teezer, Denmen brushes and many many others. These tools help you to detangle your hair and remove shed hairs & tangles, they’re also good for smoothing product through your hair for a more even distribution.

4. Oils- Oils are a MUST in every natural’s regimen. Oils help to seal in the moisture in your strands after applying water or a water based product to your strands. Oils are another mutli-purpose product, you can use your oils as a hot oil treatment, a pre-poo treatment, to baggy your ends, oil rinses, sealing your ends, to help reduce frizz when unraveling twists or braids, adding to your conditioners for an extra lil kick or to add slip to a conditioner for detangling.

5. Spray bottle filled with water- Another must have for any natural, water is the best moisturizer for natural hair. You can use your spray bottle to re-wet your hair if it starts to dry while you’re styling or detangling.

6. Applicator bottles (optional)- Applicator bottles are great to have on hand to store your oils in. Because the bottle top has an applicator tip it’s easier to apply oil to your scalp and hair without having to pour it in your hands and have it running all down your arms. I hate that! ;(

7. Hair pins, clips, headbands, and other accessories (optional)- Hair pins, bobby pins, headbands and other accessories are essential in a regimen. These simple accessories could be just what you need to change or spice up a hairstyle. No matter if you have a TWA or waist-length hair you can never have to many hair accessories.

8. A pair hair shears- This is another essential in your regimen, you should keep a good pair of shears on hand to keep your ends trimmed, dusted and to cut out SSKs or tangles.

9. Styling aids- Styling aids come in many different variations; creams, butters, pomades, gels, gel-creams, and many others and help hold your twist, braids, curls, and coils in place to create your styles.

10. Flexi rod or perm rods- Curling rods are great to have on hand to do curly styles, braid/twist ~n~ curl outs, adding curls to the ends of twists and braids, and they’re a transitioner’s bestfriend because they create a curl that helps blend the two different hair textures together (the new growth and relaxed ends).

11. Butterfly clips or clips- These help you to keep your hair in place and sectioned off as you apply product or style your hair.

12. Last but definitely not least is a satin scarf, bonnet or pillowcase – You will need a least one of these things to protect your hair from those cotton sheets, pillows and pillowcases and blankets from sucking the moisture out your hair while you’re sleeping. No more waking up to broken hairs on your pillows and sheets! *TIP* You should buy at least two bonnets, pillowcases, and/or scarves to rotate between, the oils still soak through the fabrics some, so you’ll need to wash them often to prevent your face from breaking out. 🙂

Oh! and one more last thing, one of the most important things you’ll need along your journey is patience. It is so important to remain patient during your journey no matter how tough things get. Not everything someone does to their hair will work for you so you have to stick it out and try different things and techniques until you find the one that works best for you.